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December 19 - Huntsville GAY BLACKBURN MALONEY is an attorney with the law firm Blackburn, Maloney and Schuppert, LLC, where she practices in the areas of estate planning, probate and estate administration, family-owned businesses, charitable foundations, and tax-exempt organizations. Her practice focuses on assisting families and individuals plan for current needs and future goals, taking into consideration the tax laws and other considerations tailored to the client's objectives. Ms. Maloney also provides guidance for family-owned businesses for their general legal needs and further assists these businesses as they move forward through multiple generations. She earned her B.A. degree, cum laude, from Agnes Scott College and her J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University. She is admitted to practice in Alabama and Illinois. Ms. Maloney is a member of the Vanderbilt University, American (member, Real Property, Probate and Trust Section) and Morgan County bar associations, and the Alabama State Bar. D. MILBURN GROSS JR. is a sole practitioner in Huntsville where his primary areas of practice include probate, guardianships/conservatorships, basic wills, litigation, personal injury, workers' compensation and criminal law. Mr. Gross is a member of the Huntsville-Madison County Bar Association and the Alabama State Bar. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Mr. Gross earned his B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Alabama, and his M.A.R in religion from Liberty University Theological Seminary. December 20 - Birmingham STEVEN A. BENEFIELD a fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Mr. Benefield is a partner in the Birmingham office of Christian & Small LLP. He has practiced for more than 25 years in the areas of family and business succession planning, exit strategy planning for business owners, estate and tax planning, probate, professional liability, litigation, mergers, acquisitions, and other business transactions. He holds the AV rating by Martindale Hubbell and has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for many years. A certified mergers and acquisitions advisor, Mr. Benefield is a member of the Tax, Business, and Real Property Probate and Trust sections of the American Bar Association, and the Alabama State Bar. Mr. Benefield is a member of the Estate Planning Council of Birmingham, Alabama and a certified mediator and arbitrator. He has successfully counseled and reconciled family and business owners in numerous disputes. He has taught numerous seminars on ethics, estate planning, tax, probate, business, mediation, and litigation topics over the years. He has also tried more than 40 civil actions (jury and bench) to a conclusion and represented clients on appeal in 12 matters with published opinions. He earned his B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Birmingham-Southern College and his J.D. and LLM degrees (taxation) from the University of Alabama School of Law (Order of the Coif, American College of Trial Lawyers Award, National Trial Advocacy Team, Hugo Black Scholar, Alabama Law Review). THAD A. DAVIS is a member with The Law Offices of Davis & Davis, LLC. He focuses his practice on trusts and estates, including estate and trust litigation, estate planning, estate administration, and tax law and planning. Mr. Davis advises clients in planning their estates to accomplish their goals for distribution of assets to beneficiaries while minimizing tax liability. He also assists families of deceased persons in probate administration, especially those estates with estate, gift, or income tax issues. In the litigation areas, Mr. Davis represents fiduciaries and beneficiaries in trust and estate litigation matters and related controversies, including will contests, spousal elective share proceedings, fiduciary accounting cases, and intra-family business and real estate litigation. He earned his A.B. degree, cum laude, from Duke University and his J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Alabama School of Law, where he served as a senior editor of the Alabama Law Review and as an advocate for the National Moot Court Team. Mr. Davis earned his LL.M. degree from the University of Florida, where he received the John W. Thatcher full-tuition tax scholarship and served as a graduate editor of the Florida Tax Review. He published the law review article "Cotnam v. Commissioner and the Income Tax Treatment of Contingency-Based Attorneys' Fees? The Alabama Attorney's Charging Lien Meets Lucas v. Earl Head-on", 51 Ala. L. Rev. 1683 (2000). SIDNEY C. SUMMEY is a partner in the firm of White, Arnold & Dowd, P.C., in Birmingham, with 30 years of experience in the legal profession. Much of Mr. Summey's practice involves decedent's estates and the representation of conservators of the estates of minors who have received personal injury awards and other disabled persons, special needs trusts, and the elderly. He is a frequent lecturer on basic and advanced probate, probate for litigators, special needs trusts, Medicaid issues, and elder law. He currently serves on the faculty of the Birmingham School of Law, where he teaches trusts and elder law. Mr. Summey also served on the adjunct faculty of the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University for five years, teaching courses in residential and commercial real estate transactions, and he is widely published, including an article titled, "Handling Lawsuits for Minors, Decedents and the Disabled," ATLA Journal (Vol. 20, No. 1, Winter 2000). He earned his A.F.A. degree from Young Harris College in Georgia, his B.A. degree from Gardner Webb University in North Carolina, his J.D. degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, and has further studied at the University of Nice in France. Mr. Summey is a charter member of the Elder Law Section of the Alabama State Bar, is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, has served on the CLE and Fee Arbitration committees of the Birmingham Bar Association, and was vice chairperson of the Solo and Small Firm Practitioners Committee of the Alabama State Bar. He serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association, and is admitted to practice before all state and local federal district courts, the U.S. Tax Court, and the 5th and 11th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal.
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